Bedbugs have made a comeback. All over the world, folks are waking up with itchy red welts all over their bodies. And it’s not a problem contained to fleabag hotels–even $400 a night hotels have them. There is good news and bad news about bedbugs. The bad news is that they are extremely hard to get rid of, they can live for a year without food, and they are very mobile. What’s the good news? You won’t catch any disease from their bites. (This is likely a small consolation for those who have experienced an infestation of the tiny blood-sucking critters.)
Bedbugs aren’t found just in beds and mattresses. They can be found in furniture, clothing, luggage, and more. And, they spread rapidly. So fast, in fact, that National Pest Management Association reports that bedbug calls to pest control companies are up 70% in the past five years.
You may not even know if you have them. Most people bitten do not show a reaction. Only about 30% of people experience reactions to a bedbug bite. But, if you get bedbugs, or suspect you have bedbugs, don’t be a cheapskate. Call a professional. It can be expensive, but home remedies are spotty, at best.
And if, unhappily, you already have bed bugs? Call a reputable exterminator with plenty of bed bug experience. Expect to have several treatments that last several hours, and be prepared to throw out a lot of your stuff.
Avoid used mattresses and be wary of used clothing and furniture. If you’re staying in a hotel, check for signs of bedbugs before unpacking.
A study just released claims that one in ten teenagers has posted a nude or seminude photo of themselves online. This incredibly high number should cause some head scratching. Like a hasty tattoo, these photos could be hard to later remove and therefore haunt these teens for years.
I have a friend who says that everyone should get nude pictures of themselves taken when they are eighteen years old. He says you’ll never, ever look better so document it while you can. Well, I didn’t and now that I’m sliding down towards forty, I have to say I agree with his logic. So, I certainly can’t begrudge teens for taking racy pictures of themselves. But, posting them online? We all know how iron-clad the online privacy is these days. Do these kids care nothing at all for who sees their photos?
I guess the teens uploading these types of photos aren’t planning careers in politics or anything with a morals clause. Nike might not be thrilled with seeing its star player’s bait and tackle all over the Internet, even if they were old pictures. Before she started scene-stealing on Ugly Betty, Vanessa Williams got in a little bit of trouble due to some nude photos, as have many other actresses. I guess if you’re going into porn, building a fan base with some nude photos might be a smart move. But, I doubt very many teens are thinking about future careers or potential employers. So, what about parents, teachers, classmates, neighbors, or other family members? Not everyone would want Mrs. Mitchell or Uncle Bob to see their racy photos on the Web.
Someone needs to remind kids about long-term ramifications and the Internet. Remember the Facebook privacy bruhaha from earlier in the year? The social network giant caught all kinds of flack after saying they own your content–even after you deactivate your account. Nothing ever goes away, folks. Not even when you delete it.
This story shows some incarcerated common sense. Inmates at the Hillsborough County Jail in Brandon, Florida have spent two years perfecting recipes for three flavors of hot sauce. They grew the peppers themselves as part of a horticulture program, and then produced a commercial sauce. There’s “Smoke,” “Original,” and “No Escape,” with the latter being the hottest.
The revenue goes back into the program for the inmates, and the sauce can only be purchased online (through a mail-in form).
It’s a great idea with a killer marketing hook (forgive the pun). If you’re going to be behind bars with a lot of time on your hands, you might as well do something productive. Better to learn a craft and create a product to whittle away the time. Will jailhouse salsa or maximum security spaghetti sauce be far behind?
Researchers found a direct connection between marriage and cohabitation rates in countries where views on the roles of men and women are more equal. In these areas, responsibilities for housework and child-rearing are considered a partnership, not just a woman’s duty.
The study found that women living in less egalitarian countries were between 20 and 50 per cent less likely to be living with a man than comparable women living in a more egalitarian country. For instance, the findings would predict that the average British woman was 8.5 percentage points more likely than a similar Australian woman to be in a live-in relationship.
The countries with the highest levels of male participation were Norway, Sweden, Great Britain and the United States (whoo!). At the bottom of the list were Japan, Germany, Austria, and Australia. What’s going on with the Aussies? Are they as old-fashioned as the statistics make it seem?
This study also had one other nugget of note: while egalitarian men fare better with the opposite sex, egalitarian women are seen as a handicap. Women want men who help out, but men want women who will take care of it all. Talk about a double standard.
In a massive common sense fail, a Burger King manager in Missouri asked mother Jennifer Frederich and her six-month old baby to leave his restaurant. The offense? The baby had no shoes on. The manager cited public health code, which mandates that people wear shoes in places where food is prepared and sold. But, a six-month old? Come on–they’re not even walking yet.
“I just looked at him and said, ‘That’s my daughter. She doesn’t own shoes. She’s only six months old,’” said Frederich.
Frederich says she went on to make the case that, “She doesn’t walk, so she’s not touching the ground. There is no reason for her to have shoes on.”
The mother, who was clearly baffled by the request, tried to accommodate the manager by putting socks on her child. The manager said that was not enough and asked them to leave.
Burger King headquarters has since apologized to the family and offered them a free meal. A complimentary Whopper seems like paltry compensation for such a PR blunder. Couldn’t they at least have gotten to meet this guy?
Rupert Murdoch, the powerhouse behind News Corporation, believes that you will pay for online news content. He is confident that sites such as FoxNews.com and NYPost.com can be profitable using a pay-per-article model. The goal is to be so successful that the other news sites follow suit.
It’s true the Internet has taken a huge bite out of the newspaper business. Papers all across the world are struggling as people turn to more immediate and cheaper sources of news. Good reporters and writers aren’t cheap, and maintaining a Web presence is expensive. We’re not begrudging anyone from operating on a pay-per-article basis, as does the online version of the Wall Street Journal (wsj.com). But, with so many sources of free news available, I am not sure users will feel the need to fork over hard-earned cash.
Would you pay to read Page Six online in order to find out who Britney Spears was spotted with last night? Likely not, when you could read it so many other places for free. Murdoch’s goal is to create content so unique and desirable that the cost will make sense to the user. I’m not sure News Corp. is the trailblazer that can pull it off, but good luck with that.
If there weren’t already enough reasons to make you think twice before you have kids, potential parents and irresponsible teens just got one more: Kids are really expensive. A recent report finds the average cost for raising a child born in the U.S. is now $221,000. This number only includes the money spent on the child until the age of 17, so college is not included.
If you already have kids, then this news is probably no surprise. Cell phones for the elementary school set? Check. Computers for “homework?” Check. TVs in every bedroom? Check. Whether it’s a Nintendo DS, Leapster, or an XBox, chances are that your child has one of them. Kids want THINGS. Mostly, they want what the other kids have in order to keep up.
Nowadays, however, it’s not just the fancy extras that add up on a parent’s child-rearing bill. Turns out the biggest expense categories in the report were for the basics. Kids need to eat and that’ll cost you. They need to wear something and that’ll cost you. And, they need a roof over their heads (usually), so that’ll cost you. In fact, housing is the largest single expense that parents shell out, followed by food and child care/education costs.
Over time, all this adds up to almost a quarter of a million dollars per child. So, before you have any mouths to feed, sit down with a calculator.
People pushing strollers get a pretty bad rap as far as pedestrians are concerned. I’ve heard occasional complaints from friends who grouse about the size of strollers and/or the speed at which they travel. I’m a mom with two small kids, and, although I always try to be polite in transit, I’ve received the occasional dirty look from someone while out pushing my kids. It’s time for the madness to end. We need to give strollers–and the people pushing them–a break. Here’s why:
1. We’re late, we’re late, for a very important…EVERYTHING.
I hate being late. It’s rude. But, since having kids, I usually run about ten or fifteen minutes late for everything. This isn’t for a lack of trying to get out of the house on time. Kids have a way of making sure you can’t find the sippy cup, snacks, keys, cell phone, or wallet when it’s time to leave. Or, one child suddenly needs a diaper change. So, people out pushing kids in strollers are generally running late and in a hurry. Which leads to….
2. Move quickly or get out of the way.
If you’re walking slowly, we need to maneuver around you. We need you to walk on the right-hand side of the sidewalk–not the middle. We’ll try to be polite about it, but we don’t always have patience for slowpokes who won’t move over. And, if you’re rocking out to your iPod with headphones, we will be annoyed that you didn’t hear us say, “Excuse me.” You know who you are, you dawdlers without kids in tow and not a care in the world. You might be out for a leisurely stroll by yourself or with a friend. But, we’re not bitter (usually). We’re just late. So, please let us pass without comment.
3. We’re pushing a heavy load.
A stroller generally weighs around 20 lbs. Add to that the weight of the kid(s), and you’ve got quite a torpedo. My kids are 40 lbs and 22 lbs, while my stroller weighs around 25 lbs. So, that’s close to 90 lbs I’m pushing around. Yes, I realize momentum and gravity do some of the work, but it’s still not easy to stop on a dime or get through doorways. We’ll do our best to accommodate other pedestrians, but sometimes it’s like steering a battleship.
4. We’re so tired.
Most parents don’t get a lot of sleep. We’re sleep-deprived and can be cranky on occasion. Sometimes, this perpetual tiredness can impair our judgement or make us lose our patience too quickly. Perhaps we aren’t as nice or courteous as we should be. We’re sorry. When we’re well-rested, we promise we’re a LOT nicer.
I’m not saying there aren’t obnoxious stroller-wielding parents and caretakers out there. I have seen my fair share. Most of us, however, do try to be courteous and respectful. We don’t want to run over people or play chicken with pedestrians. We just need to get where we’re going before our kids go into full meltdown mode. So, the next time you feel anger building toward some stroller-pushing parent, feel some compassion for them instead.
Many parents are reluctant to let their children play intense contact sports, such as tackle football, for fear of serious injury. Now, new statistics have revealed that cheerleading should also give parents serious pause. It is the leading cause of catastrophic injuries in young women.
Most accidents are still the muscle pull, strained ankle variety. However, cheerleading accounts for 60-66% of all catastrophic accidents in high school and college-aged girls. This includes head and spine trauma, which can leave the patient with life-long disabilities.
If you’ve seen a cheerleading competition recently, this information should come as no surprise.
Yes, this is now what cheerleading has become: throwing girls up in the air plus a high level of tumbling difficulty on hard surfaces while trying to remember frenetic choreography and avoid a man wearing a super large hat. (In this video, even the announcer comments on the unforgiving surface.)
Take into account the statistics. Educate yourself on the risks and know what your daughter could be getting herself into. It’s one thing to sprain your ankle; it’s another to be paralyzed for life.
Daily Dose of Common Sense cuts through the crap, hype, and pseudoscience to tell it like it is. Part science, part news, and part, er, common sense, this site may be harsh sometimes but it's just tough love.
A study just released claims that one in ten teenagers has posted a 
This story shows some incarcerated common sense. Inmates at the Hillsborough County Jail in Brandon, Florida have spent two years perfecting recipes for three flavors of hot sauce. They grew the peppers themselves as part of a horticulture program, and then produced a commercial sauce. There’s “Smoke,” “Original,” and “No Escape,” with the latter being the hottest.
A study found that men who do cooking, cleaning, and other household chores have the 
People pushing strollers get a pretty bad rap as far as pedestrians are concerned. I’ve heard occasional complaints from friends who grouse about the size of strollers and/or the speed at which they travel. I’m a mom with two small kids, and, although I always try to be polite in transit, I’ve received the occasional dirty look from someone while out pushing my kids. It’s time for the madness to end. We need to give strollers–and the people pushing them–a break. Here’s why:
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